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Winston Tunnel

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Railway transport

   The Winston Tunnel, completed in 1888, was built by the Minnesota and
   Northwestern Railroad (predecessor to the Chicago Great Western
   Railway, or CGW). The tunnel was located on the CGW main line 152 miles
   (245 kilometers) west of Chicago and nine miles (14.5 kilometers) west
   of Elizabeth in the isolated and hilly Driftless Zone of extreme
   north-western Illinois. In 1972, four years after the Great Western was
   merged into the Chicago and North Western Railway (C&NW), the CGW's
   largely redundant trackage in the area, including the Winston Tunnel,
   was abandoned. When it was completed and until the time of its
   abandonment, it was the longest tunnel in the state of Illinois^ at
   2493 feet (760 meters).^

History

   The newly constructed Minnesota and Northwestern across northern
   Illinois utilized trackage rights on the Illinois Central Railroad
   between Stockton, Illinois and Dubuque, Iowa in 1886 before
   construction on its own line through the isolated wilderness could
   commence. Engineers quickly realized that a tunnel would need to be
   constructed in order to traverse the rugged landscape. The Sheppard,
   Winston and Company (for which the tunnel would be named) and hundreds
   of laborers worked by hand, digging through the silty and unstable
   shale for nine months starting in the spring of 1887. The work was
   backbreaking and dangerous, and at least one worker, a Finnish
   immigrant named John Hill, was killed.^14

   The tunnel proved to be a constant nuisance to the Great Western and
   its predecessors. Almost immediately, railroad engineers realized that
   the unstable nature of shale through which the tunnel was bored, ground
   water seepage, and the isolated location of the tunnel meant repairs
   would be frequent and costly. The tunnel was originally braced by
   wooden beams when it opened to rail traffic in January 1888, but these
   eventually proved inadequate, to be replaced in 1902 by brick and
   reinforced concrete. Constant deterioration of the supports meant
   large-scale reconstruction of the tunnel would be needed again in 1912,
   1918, 1944 and 1947.^28

   The bore was also improperly ventilated at first. A shaft sunk into the
   top of the tunnel failed to provide enough fresh air, and the crews of
   the steam engines would often complain of the intense heat and smoke
   due to the poor air circulation. Piecemeal solutions failed to work,
   and by 1912 the railroad was forced to install a huge fan, staffed by
   operators all day and night, to ventilate the tunnel. The fanhouse,
   constructed by 1916, was abandoned by the CGW with the acquisition of
   diesel locomotives by 1947.^25

   When the Chicago Great Western was Federalized during World War I, a
   contingent of Illinois National Guardsmen were assigned to protect the
   tunnel.^89

   The operating nightmares of the tunnel forced the railroad's management
   to consider many schemes to rid themselves of the burden. In 1909, 1951
   and again in 1964 (the same year the North Western and Great Western
   announced their intentions to merge) the CGW sought engineering
   proposals to reroute their trackage around the bore, to "daylight" the
   tunnel, or to completely rebuild and improve it. To the often
   cash-strapped Great Western, however, all these plans proved far too
   expensive.^29

   In the end, the 1968 merger with the Chicago and North Western sealed
   the Winston Tunnel's fate. The Great Western's main line through
   northern Illinois closely paralleled the North Western's own line, but
   through less densely populated and less commercially active areas. The
   steep grades of the line and the obvious financial burden of the
   Winston Tunnel also played a role in the decision to completely abandon
   the Great Western's trackage in the area. The C&NW operated its last
   train through the tunnel in 1971. Scrappers pulled up the tracks the
   following year. Upon abandonment, the C&NW placed chain-link fences
   over each bore of the tunnel to keep squatters and other trespassers
   out.^

Present day

   The Winston Tunnel still exists, although in a very isolated area, and
   in a much deteriorated condition. Nature has reclaimed the
   right-of-way; the fan house, unused since the 1940s, has been severely
   damaged by the elements; and the eastern bore, located on private
   property, has been almost completely sealed with earth.

   The western half, however, was purchased by the Illinois Department of
   Natural Resources as a "satellite area" of Apple River Canyon State
   Park. The DNR installed a new steel gate to replace the chain-link
   fence covering the western bore , and is developing the area with
   nature trails and other improvements . However, and besides the fact
   that the tunnel is currently off-limits to general public visitation,
   it is a very dangerous place to visit, with the ever-present danger of
   further collapse and rattlesnake bite.

Technical Specifications

     * Completed: 1888 - Abandoned: 1972
     * Length of tunnel: 2440 feet (744 meters)
     * Grade of trackage through tunnel: 0.92 percent, rising east
     * Elevation of Eastern bore: 797 feet (243 meters) above sea level

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Tunnel"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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